Lead writer Marc Laidlaw left Valve in 2016, and the very next year, he released Epistle 3, a short, legally-distinct "fanfic" about Gertie Fremont that served as a collection of ideas on how he might have resolved the Half-Life 2: Episode Two cliffhanger. Laidlaw has expressed regret over publishing the story, mainly due to the trouble it caused his former coworkers, but that hasn't stopped fans from trying to adapt his vague outline into a fully-fledged game.

Project Borealis is one such ambitious effort, seeking to re-create the Source feel of Half-Life 2 within Unreal Engine—building an entire sequel from scratch—but others, like Boreal-Alyph and Interlude, never reached the finish line. Alyx threw a bit of a spanner in the works, re-contextualizing the ending of Episode Two and setting up its own sequel, which is reportedly nearing the finish line (as evident by all the 'HLX' leaks found in the Source 2 backend), but that still hasn't deterred modders. And now, a far more modest solo project is on track to release later this year.

Jim Partridge announced All Good Things earlier this year in a blog post explaining that he has been sitting on the sidelines watching overly-ambitious teams try to adapt Laidlaw's writings to no avail. He argued that these teams are taking too long or outright failing because they have too many volunteers—which is a surprising stance, considering most teams, like Skyblivion, argue the opposite. Nonetheless, Partridge suggested that not relying on others is key, with multiple large-scale Half-Life and Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns under his belt to prove it.

"You can have all the concept artists, model makers, composers, and script writers you like, but ultimately your project needs fun playable levels at its core," he said. "I think that's the reason ultimately I decided to throw my hat in the Epistle 3 ring. I know I can crank out a set of 12 or more levels that are fun to play and FEEL like Episode 2. Which in my opinion, is what people want."

All Good Things Is Just One And A Half Maps Away From Completion

Six hours ago, Partridge posted a new update, reaffirming that All Good Things is on track to launch in late 2026, while also sharing some screenshots of the Aperture facility. "Work has progressed steadily towards a first draft of the campaign and I'm now just a map and a half away from having a fully playable end to end experience which can be play tested to death," he said.

Of course, unlike Project Borealis and other mods of its scope—or Black Mesa, the fan-made Half-Life remake that took over ten years to develop—All Good Things isn't aiming to replicate the experience of a brand-new Valve game. One modder alone cannot achieve that, but does Epistle 3 need to have that scope? The original post was a rough outline penned by a frustrated writer, echoing his own real-life experiences, not a fully-formed script seeking to match the quality of Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two. A mod like Partridge's feels more authentic to the ethos of Epistle 3, which Laidlaw himself argued is more akin to fanfic than anything else.

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All Good Things is more like the early map packs that tried to bring the Half-Life 2 beta to life than the volunteer indie dev teams spearheading entire games that we see today, and there's a certain charm to that low-stakes approach. It'll be fascinating to dive in and see Epistle 3 brought to life in the Source engine as though no time has passed since 2007, and hey, if nothing else, that lone dev stubbornness is the closest anyone has gotten to the finish line.

Half-Life 2: Episode 2

Like FPS Sci-Fi Systems Released October 10, 2007 ESRB m Developer(s) Valve Publisher(s) Valve Engine source Franchise Half-Life
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